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"Justice is the constant and perpetual wish to render to every one his due."
~ Emperor Justinian
 
 
Upcoming Events
2023-2024 Membership Application and Membership Renewal
09-18-2023
September Board Meeting
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10-10-2023

Annual Meeting/Election, Scholarship Reception and Luncheon
honoring Dario C. Altieri, MD
President and Chief Executive Officer of The Wistar Institute
Director of the Ellen and Ronald Caplan Cancer Center
Distinguished Professor, Robert and Penny Fox Immunology, Microenvironment & Metastasis Program.

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10-16-2023
October Board Meeting
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11-20-2023
November Board Meeting
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12-12-2023
"SAVE THE DATE"
The Justinian Christmas Party
Arts Ballroom

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12-18-2023
December Board Meeting
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Justinian Society News
01-01-2022
Justinian Society Event Photos

To see all of the photos from our most recent events, see our Flickr account.

To see photos from the 2022 Justinian Christmas Party click here.

To see photos from the Beccaria Award held on December 13, 2022 given to Nathan J. Andrisani, Esq. for 2022 and Professor Louis M. Natali, Jr. for 2021 click here.

To see photos from the "In Person" Luncheon honoring Philadelphia Bar Chancellor Wesley R. Payne IV, Esq. held on February 17, 2022 click here.

To see photos from the 2021 "In Person" Luncheon honoring Phila Bar Assoc. Chancellor Lauren McKenna, Esquire and their immediate Past Chancellor Hon. A. Michael Snyder (Ret.) click here.

To see photos from the 2020 Beccaria Award held November 17, 2022 given to George Bochetto, Esq. click here.

06-17-2021
2021 First "In Person" Annual Meeting/Election Announcement
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06-29-2020
Virtual Annual Meeting, Election & Scholarship Announcement
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06-10-2020
News from The Justinian Foundation – 2020 Scholarship Recipient
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Members of the Month
June 2022 Justinian Member of the Month
This month, the Justinian Society proudly spotlights the accomplishments of The Honorable Daniel R. Sulman is a judge in the Family Division of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where he served from July of 2016 to January of 2018 and from December of 2019 through the present, following appointments to the bench by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf and election in 2021. The Judge is a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, a graduate of Philadelphia public schools and magna cum laude graduate of Temple University. He earned his law degree at Temple University Beasley School of Law. More...
May 2022 Justinian Member of the Month
This month, the Justinian Society proudly spotlights the accomplishments of The Honorable Craig Levin who is a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. He assumed office on January 3, 2022. His current term ends January 5, 2032. Judge Levin was born and raised in Philadelphia. His life has been shaped by the communities where he grew up: First in West Oak Lane, then moving as a teenager to the Northeast. He attended Philadelphia Public Schools, graduating from Temple University with a B.S. in Finance and earned his Juris Doctorate from the Delaware School of Law at Widener University. He is a proud 'Philly guy' and loves all things 'Philly'. More...
March 2022 Justinian Member of the Month
This month, the Justinian Society proudly spotlights the accomplishments of The Honorable Ann M. Butchart who was elected to a ten-year term as a Trial Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia in 2005 and was retained for a second term in 2015. She has presided in Family Court, Criminal Court and Civil Court. More...
February 2022 Justinian Member of the Month
This month, the Justinian Society proudly spotlights the accomplishments of The Honorable Rosemarie Defino-Nastasi who presides in the Court of Common Pleas Criminal Trial Division in Philadelphia. She began her legal career working as an Assistant Defender for The Defender’s Association of Philadelphia. She then joined her family’s law firm in South Philadelphia working alongside her brothers, Michael and Vincent Defino. Judge Defino-Nastasi has presided in the Criminal Trial Division for over twenty years. More...
January 2022 Justinian Member of the Month
This month, the Justinian Society proudly spotlights the accomplishments of President Judge Jack Anthony Panella of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. He was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in November 2003 and sworn into office as an appellate judge on January 9, 2004 and retained in 2013. On January 7, 2019, he was elected President Judge. His true devotion and commitment is to assure that the Superior Court does it best to serve the people and the members of the Bar in ways that are efficient and productive, and balances judicial independence with accountability. More...
 
 
  April 2021 Justinian Member of the Month
04-01-2021

The Honorable Louis J. Presenza (Ret.)
April 2021 Justinian Member of the Month

LOUIS J. PRESENZA President Judge Emeritus, Philadelphia Municipal Court

Judge Presenza was appointed to the Municipal Court bench is 1982. He was elected to a full term in 1983 and was retained for office in 1989, 1995, 2001 and 2007 with a better than ninety-five percent approval rating from plebiscites conducted by the Philadelphia Bar Association. In 1996 he was appointed the first Supervising Judge of the Court's Criminal Division during which time he played a key role in establishing the first drug treatment court in Pennsylvania. In 1999, his colleagues elected him President Judge and he was unanimously reelected to that position in 2004. Prior to his appointment, Judge Presenza was an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Transportation and later was appointed General Counsel to the Philadelphia Housing Authority. Judge Presenza also engaged in the private practice of law

Prior to his retirement, Judge Presenza was a frequent guest speaker at national symposium lecturing on tramadol drug court policies and initiatives and served on committees, commissions and boards addressing issues of preliminary arraignment, pretrial release guidelines, prison population management and alternatives to incarceration. He was a member of the Pennsylvania Statewide Adult Drug Court Advisory Committee, the Pennsylvania Statewide Mental Health Initiatives Task Force, the City of Philadelphia's Criminal Justice Coordinating Commission and the Mayor's Task Force on Homeless Services. He also served as a faculty member for the National Drug Court Institute and is past Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP). He was a founding member of the Pennsylvania Association of Drug Court Professionals and served consecutive two-year terms as its inaugural President. He was on the Board of Directors of the National Conference of Metropolitan Courts, Chairman of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Substance Abuse, emeritus member of the Board of Directors of NADCP and a member of the Board of Directors of the National Shrine of St. Rita of Cascia. He also served as a consultant for the American University Justice Programs Orice School of Public Affairs

Judge Presenza received awards from the Philadelphin Coalition for Victim Advocacy, the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges, the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia, and the Caron Foundation. He was inducted into the NADCP's Stanley M. Goldstein Drug Court Hall of Fame in recocation of his leadership, service and preeminent contributions to the drug court field and was awarded the Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association is recognition of having made a significant and positive impact on the quality and administration of justice. Lawdragon Magurine mod him one of "500 Leading Judges in America. In 2009, the Pennsylvania Association of Drug Court Professionals established the Louis J. Presenza Distinguished Service Award to be presented annually to an individual in recognition of their extraordinary leadership and support of those in the problem solving court field in Pennsylvania.

Judge Presenza is a graduate of St. Joseph's University and Villanova University School of Law.

Judge Presenza is married, has three children and 8 granschildren.

Una Piccola Conversazione

1. How long have you been a member of the Justinian Society?

I joined the Justinian Society in 1971.

2. Why did you join the Justinian Society, and what do you hope to gain from membership?

It was the natural thing to do since I knew many of the judges and lawyers who were members. I looked forward to the mentoring and camaraderie that the Society provided.

3. What do you love or enjoy most about your job?

I viewed my time on the Bench as an opportunity to help others solve their problems and to also promote fairness and justice. Our Philadelphia Treatment Court is a prime example.

4. How would you define success?

You must have positive goals in life and take the steps to hopefully achieve them. However, success must be beyond the personal and include making the world a better place.

5. Who or what inspires you?

My faith and my family with special recognition to my parents and my wife. I was also inspired by the hundreds of participants in our Treatment Court who successfully completed a demanding program to overcome their addictions and become an example for others.

6. If you could choose anyone in history as a mentor, who would you choose and why?

Hands down, it would be my father. He was a child of the Depression who had to drop out of high school to help his parents support his seven siblings. He was a man who valued education and the need to help others. He was a man of character and integrity.

7. Name one valuable lesson you’ve learned in your life and that you would advise other members to follow?

Follow your conscience. Always strive to do what is right despite the opposition and pressure on you to do otherwise and seek the strength and counsel to do what is right.

8. What’s something about you (a fun fact) that not many people know?

I am what some would call a diehard baseball fan and because of a very dear friend I was able to have breakfast or dinner with immortals such as Ted Williams, Pee Wee Reese, Luis Aparicio, Bob Feller, Carl Yastrzemski, Duke Snider and other Hall of Famers.

9. What’s the last book you read?

Brothers in Battle....Best of Friends. This is the true story and incredible story of two young men from South Philadelphia that enlisted in the 101" Airborne and fought in the D-Day landing, the Battle of the Bulge and other battles through Belgium and Germany. After the war they continued to live in South Philly and remained lifelong friends. They were immortalized in the HBO Series The Band of Brothers.

10. What’s your favorite thing about Philadelphia, i.e., sports team, restaurant, museum, history, music etc.?

Actually, all of the above with particular emphasis on the diversity of our neighborhoods, the plethora of restaurants, the sports teams including the Big 5 and of course our history which is second to none.

 
 
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